At the height of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Ewell Smith, executive director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, sits on barriers keeping oil off the beaches of Grand Island, LA. Although his community was devastated by the disaster, Smith’s leadership established a better working relationship between the oil and Louisiana commercial fishing industries after the crisis.

Sharing Pain and Lessons Learned

Akio Ono, president of Ono Foods Co., Ltd., knows all too well about the kind of large-scale destruction inflicted on Louisiana and the Gulf Coast in recent years.

In 2011, his seafood plant in Kamaishi City sustained heavy damage from a tsunami caused by one of the most powerful earthquakes to ever hit Japan.

The head of a six-foot alligator sits on the desk of a meeting between Japanese business and economic leaders from the east coast of Japan that was desimated by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami. Photo: Ed Lallo/Louisiana Seafood News

With other Japanese leaders, Ono visited America to provide post-tsunami updates to U.S. agencies, and learn how similar disasters were handled here.

As part of an effort to revitalize the seafood industry and spur economic development of Kamaishi City, they came to Louisiana to get insight from the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board.

Before Katrina, market development and product promotion were the board’s two main missions. Afterward, communicating about the viability of Louisiana’s commercial seafood community became paramount, a problem now facing the Japanese seafood industry.

No one was prepared for Hurricane Katrina, said Ewell Smith, the board’s executive director. Photo: NOAA

No one was prepared for Hurricane Katrina, said Ewell Smith, the board’s executive director.
Louisiana sustained more than a billion dollars in damage to its seafood community from the 2005 storm.

Smith walked the Japanese businessmen through the steps being taken today to rebuild the fishing community and the Louisiana seafood brand after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 and Hurricane Isaac last year.

Afterward, Ono said: “Listening to your story has given us inspiration that we can do something more.”

Turning Mayhem into Shared Expertise to Benefit Many

As executive director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, Ewell Smith has found himself in the eyes of hurricanes and the public eye for the last 12 years.

Like the 12,000+ commercial fishermen they represent, Smith and board members know how to dig out and move on after surviving seemingly impossible odds. That kind of moxie gets you a global, go-to reputation.

His expertise is sought out by government officials, industry leaders, business people – and on occasion, even royalty. Sometimes, they travel thousands of miles to Louisiana Seafood’s offices on Lake Pontchartrain to learn firsthand.

Ewell Smith (l) answers questions from Prince Albert of Monaco during the BP oil spill. Monaco had just authorized offshore oil drilling, and the prince asked for Ewell’s help in understanding how his fishing industry could be affected.